An Oregon man already charged with the deaths of three women was indicted this week for the death of a fourth.
Jesse Lee Calhoun is now charged with the 2022 murder of 22-year-old Kristin Smith in Multnomah County, ABC News reported.
Calhoun was charged last year with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of second-degree abuse of a corpse in the slayings of Charity Lynn Perry 24; Bridget Leanne Webster, 31; and Joanna Speaks, 32; as CrimeOnline reported. He pleaded not guilty to those counts in June 2024.
Speaks vanished in March 2023 and her body was found in early April in Ridgefield, Washington, inside a barn on an abandoned property, although police believe her murder took place in Oregon. Ridgefield is about 22 miles north of Portland. Sheriff’s deputies in Multnomah County found Perry on April 24, 2023, in a culvert near Ainsworth State Park.
On April 30, 2023, Webster’s body was found in northwest Polk County on Harmony Road near Mill Creek.
Smith’s body was discovered in February 2023 in a Portland neighborhood. She had been reported missing the previous December, and Calhoun was considered a person of interest in her death but not formally charged at the time.
The new indictment charges Calhoun with second degree murder and abuse of a corpse in Smith’s death, Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez said, according to ABC.
Officials have released few details about the case, including how Calhoun may have been connected to the victims and how they died.
“This remains a very active investigation, and unfortunately, we’re not going to be discussing the evidence underlying the charges today,” Vasquez said on Tuesday.
His office said the trial is expected to take place in 2027.
Melissa Smith, the latest victim’s mother, spoke at the press briefing on Tuesday.
“I stayed strong, doing all I could, trying to save my daughter. And it was just unbearable to find out when I was too late and needed help finding her,” she said. “I did everything I could to try to get answers and fight and search.”
Vazquez also said that investigators are still looking into the death of 22-year-old Ashley Real, whose body was found in Clackamas County in May 2023, about a month after she was reported missing in Portland. He called that an “extremely important case to us.”
Prosecutors had previously said they found links between Webster, Real, Smith, and Perry but did not say what those links were.
